Fleet Management

In the first year after adopting electronic logs, Cargo Transporters, Claremont, N.C., had not only reduced out-of-service violations related to hours of service, but it also had improved its CSA "Driver Fatigue" BASIC score and was able to cut its compliance staff by 50%

By Christian Schenk, Vice President of Market Development & Product Marketing, Xata Corp.

Increased regulation. Demanding customers. Driver shortages. These are just a few reasons why the trucking industry is embracing mobile technology and the affordable fleet management solutions that run on cell phones, smartphones, tablet computers and other handheld devices

When United Natural Foods Inc. started offering voluntary "know your numbers" health screenings in 2010, 72% of the non-driving employees participated, but only 31% of drivers. This year, 97% of non-drivers and 98% of its approximately 1,000 drivers participated

Drivers hate them. Fleets love them. I'm talking about truck speed limiters, which to my mind are a blunt solution to a technically delicate problem: how to manage truck speed and efficiency without rendering the things undriveable.

In the abstract, reducing fuel cost represents a pretty straightforward undertaking: Get as many miles as possible out of every gallon of fuel, pay as little as possible for those gallons, and reduce the number of miles each truck travels to get the job done

SAN DIEGO -- "It doesn't matter if you are big or small, the principles are the same," said Richard Stocking, president and COO of Swift Transportation, in discussing how his company got back on track following the recession

Fuel. Equipment. Tires. Tolls. Costs keep rising, and rates aren't keeping up. Instead of chasing after more loads and more revenue, you may be better off taking a careful look at the cost side of the equation

Most of us have done of these things manually for so long that the thought of automating can seem overwhelming -- something only the big boys do. Today, technology innovation has put automation within the reach of any carrier.

When Randy Seals, customer advocate for McLeod Software, managed operations for a trucking company years ago, his boss would come in month after month asking the same question: "How are we doing?" Seals would respond, "Looks like we're doing great." He wasn't lying. They were moving a ton of freight

A combination of driver training and monitoring with careful attention to truck specs and being willing to try unconventional technology all contribute to fuel savings for HDT's 2012 Truck Fleet Innovators

Automatically watching the perishable load as it goes down the road or the rails saves money and brings peace of mind.
When you're delivering temperature-sensitive cargoes, things can get nasty if the produce, meat, ice cream or whatever's in the trailer shows up too cold or too warm

Years ago, fleets would spend the overnight hours manually figuring out which route a driver would take the next day. Today, routing and dispatch software can do it faster and more accurately. Some even predict we'll be able to dispense with the human element altogether

A key strategy that has emerged for fleets to help improve their scores under FMCSA's new Compliance, Safety, Accountability enforcement regime - more commonly known as CSA - is a proper pre-trip inspection

A panel of young truckload executives talked about making sure growth, technology, employees and customers are all contributing to a carrier's success during a panel discussion last week at the Truckload Carriers Association's annual conference

In trucking, miles are currency, and there are few companies that have become more synonymous with trucking than commercial routing and mileage software providers. Few truckers start, execute or navigate a trip that wasn't planned using

"It pays to operate in accordance with the law." That's one way ADM Trucking Inc., Decatur, Ill., is able to recruit and retain drivers, according to Sam Richardson, assistance vice president of operations

The need for first-rate maintenance of trucks and trailers is obvious, so let's not start this article blathering about the necessity of cost control and the ever-increasing challenge of safety compliance. All that's a given

In 2011, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspectors conducted about 2 million vehicle inspections. In the cargo securement sphere, the most common violations found during roadside inspections were "failure to prevent shifting cargo" (16,345) and "leaking/spilling/blowing/falling cargo" (10,872)

It was clear at last week's Recruitment & Retention Conference, put on by the Truckload Carriers Association and ACS Advertising, that forward-thinking carriers are realizing that recruiting and retention in the new environment means treating drivers are more than steering-wheel holders

Some time soon, if we don't already, we'll have a rulemaking proposal that ultimately will put a stability-control system on every new tractor, and maybe retrofit such a system on all tank trailers too, old or new.
I'm sold on both ideas

When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rolled out its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program in late 2010, a number of carriers were surprised to find a poorer safety rating than they enjoyed under the old SafeStat

We spoke with Don Osterberg, vice president of safety at mega-carrier Schneider National and a leader in trucking safety, about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new Compliance, Safety, and Accountability enforcement progra

When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rolled out its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program in late 2010, a number of carriers were surprised to find a poorer safety rating than they enjoyed under the old SafeStat

A recent survey by GE Capital of mid-market chief financial officers showed that transportation CFOs, while less optimistic about the U.S. economy and the global economy than their counterparts, are one of the more optimistic groups of CFOs when it comes to the state of their own industry